12:30 a.m.: Mounds Road near airport to close by December

By Jessica Kerman

June 05, 2008 12:27 am

— ANDERSON — After years of discussion and planning, the Anderson Board of Aviation, at its meeting Tuesday, set a six-month goal to close Mounds Road to public traffic.
Steve Darlington, Anderson Municipal Airport manager, said the airport negotiated terms with Chesterfield, the American Legion and Mounds State Park to close the road, which borders the airport on the southeast side.
“We’re closing it because it’s an obstruction with our taxiway,” Darlington said.
In exchange for the road closing, the airport board agreed to finish Mounds Trail between Mounds State Park and Chesterfield, Darlington said.
“We agreed we wouldn’t close the road until we put a trail in,” he said.
The airport also paid for improvements to the Water Street sewer and a new access road for the American Legion. Mounds Road will remain open for public safety, but not for the general public, Darlington said.
No one from Chesterfield was available Wednesday for comment. James Davis, who oversees the property for Mounds State Park, was not in the office on Wednesday.
“That road is dangerous, and it’s not economical to repair it anymore,” Darlington said. “It needs to be totally removed.”
In other business, the Board of Aviation also received conceptual drawings of a building Pete Bitar, owner of Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems, plans to build in AeroPark.
The airport board is in negotiations to sell Bitar 3.1 acres to use for his business. The land was appraised for $41,000, Darlington said.
Also, the board accepted a contract from Rayl Engineering for $2,500 to do a plat drawing of AeroPark, which would include Bitar’s new building, the new taxiway and more hangars for aircraft.